Navel Cake

Navel Cake

　　The “Navel Cake” is made from ingredients such as mung beans and sweet potatoes, and is baked into a shape resembling a nipple or the moon. Hence, it is also known as “Mung Bean Dome,” “Moonlight Cake,” or “Nipple Cake.” It is an authentic Hakka rice-based snack from Miaoli. With a fragrant, chewy texture that is sweet but not cloying, the cake features a thin, delicate crust, a rich filling, and a crispy, flaky texture. Made without oil and with minimal sugar, it is a healthy snack choice.

　　 Specialty Culture: In the early days, most people in Miaoli were farmers. At that time, mothers would bring their young children along to work, and when they were too busy to breastfeed, the babies would often cry incessantly. One woman came up with a solution: she carved sweet potatoes into shapes resembling female nipples for the babies to suck on, which calmed them down. This method proved quite effective, and other mothers soon followed suit. Later, a pastry chef, inspired by this story, made a nipple-shaped cake using sweet potatoes—originally called the Nipple Cake. Due to the name being considered inappropriate, it was renamed the Navel Cake. Subsequent pastry chefs replaced part of the sweet potato with mung beans, leading to it also being called Mung Bean Dome. Another story suggests that around 1905, some Japanese technicians at the Miaoli Sugar Factory, missing the pastries and sweets from their homeland, collaborated with local Taiwanese residents in Miaoli to create a tea-time snack by improving upon the traditional Hakka mooncake using locally available ingredients.

　　 Specialty Production: The highly representative Mung Bean Dome from Miaoli has a filling made from shelled mung beans that are boiled until soft, then mixed with pure white sugar to form a golden mung bean paste. This is wrapped in a crust with added fresh cream and then baked. The resulting Mung Bean Dome is fragrant, soft, flaky, and sweet without being overly sugary. Mr. Huang has further refined the dessert in line with modern trends, creating a bite-sized, Q-version mini snack that has earned recognition from the Miaoli County Cultural Affairs Bureau, making it one of Miaoli’s most iconic specialty treats.